The union's rules conference is going on this week in sunny Brighton. Even the Right wing group in the union 'Unite Now' are getting frustrated with the 'dictatorship of the bureaucracy' within Unite. In case you don't read their well funded if poorly written website, here is their article in full:
"Rules conference and this Union belongs to you the members – don’t surrender it to Executive Officers!khjkhj
The Executive Officers of this
union have really stacked the outcomes at this conference in their
favour to keep control of our union.
Delegates need to know that all EC statements &
proposed rule amendments were tabled at EC meetings by the Executive
Officers - none were tabled by EC members. In addition the Executive
Officers published a document detailing what conference amendments
should be opposed and which supported - the EC lazily nodded through and
supported 99% of the Executive Officers recommendations! So ask
yourself who is really running this so-called ‘lay led’ union?
Regarding the running of conference the
manipulation continues. Standing Orders – the procedures through which
the conference is governed - are drafted by the Executive Officers &
Executive Council. In the current proposed draft Standing Orders for rules conference which delegates will be asked to approve or oppose on the first day the following new clause has now been added:
“Should a motion to amend the rules submitted
by the EC be included in any grouping of motions it shall be voted upon
first and, if carried, all other motions in that group shall fall. In
any reply, the EC speaker shall speak at the conclusion of the debate.”
Given there is no time limit for registering EC
rule amendments/statements they can be written when all other amendments
are known and written in such a way (covering several clauses of a
rule) to group and ‘take-out’ a number of undesirable amendments.
When voting on the proposals the EC statement/amendment will always be taken first - last say First vote - and
if the first vote carries then all other grouped amendments fall
without even being voted on! Even more worryingly the grouping of
motions can lead to motions falling to EC statements that don’t even
cover the issue they deal with - this must be challenged!
Delegates need to remember that EC statements are
not covered by Rule or Conference Standing Orders so why are they even
allowed by the Standing Orders Committee? This should be challenged!
This manipulation of standing orders to control
conference is far reaching. The statements on the Labour Party and
Retired members contain actual rule changes within them – so why didn’t
the EC issue specific rule change amendments rather than issue
statements?
At the other end of the spectrum the EC statement
on Appointment of Officers changes nothing at all, it is in fact a
policy statement and should therefore not be used to knock out actual
proposed amendments to rule submitted democratically by delegates via
branches and committees – this should be challenged!
And the Executive Officers are even trying to
further secure their control going forward by proposing rule amendments
to policy and rules conference (EC Amendments 12/1 & 13/1) that
would give the EC authority to issue ‘directions’ to conference - these
EC amendments should be vehemently opposed!
The
Executive Officers already have control over the Executive Council - do
not let them get in control of our Policy & Rules conferences or we
will be stung forever!"
Its rather ironic that 'Unite Now' opposed the proposal for election rather than appointment of officials, and still do. It's the only solution and
Grass Roots Left are the only group in Unite that support it.
You must conclude that 'Unite Now' don't oppose dictatorship of the bureaucracy in itself, they only oppose it when the bureaucracy isn't their bureaucracy.
